Stop Thinking
by sphinxlike
Summary: Nick and Jess can't seem to stop thinking about each other. Will a handsome new neighbor and some jealousy help them realize it? I'm bad at summaries please read though :)


**A/N: Hi, this is one of the first few Fanfictions I've written, and the first I've written for New Girl so some feedback would be greatly appreciated! I hope I didn't go too out-of-character! :) **

Nick popped open his beer can, sinking snugly into the sofa. He took a long pull from the can, switched on the television – his favorite team was playing tonight – and sighed in sheer joy. It was his Sunday evening ritual, to celebrate the end of another week – beer, a game, the loft mostly to himself – and sure enough, Winston was out, Jess was at work and Schmidt in his room, knowing well enough to leave him alone tonight.

The past week had been _interesting_ for him, to say the least. He'd met this girl at the bar for one – Haley. She'd been completely drunk the first time he met her, and he'd helped her hail a cab – she had come back to the bar sober every night since. She seemed nice enough, he supposed, if you sort of blocked out her tattoos and eyebrow piercing.

He'd also written the first chapter of his new book, about aliens this time, and Winston hadn't laughed _too_ hard when he read it so that was promising. He'd signed himself up for a gym membership online, after seeing the advert on Facebook – if he decided to call Haley, as she'd been begging him to do, he wanted to be prepared.

And he'd made some progress in not thinking about Jess too much.

He didn't really know when it started, this thing where he thought about Jess a little too much in a little too-friendly a way. It just kind've popped into his mind one day when the four of them were at the beach on a Loft-Bonding Day or whatever Jess called it – he stopped listening when she brought out the Feelings Stick.

She was in a tiny little blue bikini and he found his mind wandering into places it most definitely shouldn't have, given the fact that she was her roommate and there were tons of other, more available girls around. But he couldn't get her out of his mind. And he realized then that he'd been having that problem for quite a while.

So since that day, he'd been making a conscious effort not to think of her – it was working pretty well, he'd got himself up to once an hour, even. He still hadn't made up his mind what to think of it. He just knew he had to stop.

_You're thinking of her right now_, the voice in his head pointed out.

_Shut up._

He focused his eyes back on the screen, where cheerleaders were throwing their pompoms high in the air while performing impossibly high kicks and splits and spins in some effort to cheer the teams on, and found himself imagining Jess in a cheerleading uniform, her hair in two high pigtails, her big, blue eyes wide as she opened her pink lips to shout..

He really, really needed to stop this.

* * *

Jess had had a really crappy day. She was still new to this whole teaching-adults thing, and was trying to find her groove but it just didn't seem to be working. She'd tried a singing exercise today, where she asked her students to sing out what they had written. Her children usually loved it, but her adults barely sang at all, and she was pretty sure she'd heard one of them call her a ditsy teenage girl who was barely even qualified to teach.

Nick was busy with his Sunday night ritual, and was therefore not free to pick her up as he usually did, so she had had to take the subway home. Getting squashed and bumped and rubbed against in the sweaty, crowded subway had been the cherry on the icing of her lovely cake of a day. She knew she could've called him, really, to pick her up, but she felt like they'd been spending a little too much time alone lately in closed spaces and the frequent proximity made her think about weird things; like how he would look shirtless, or what he'd do if she stroked his cheek right at that very moment, and..

Basically, it had to stop.

She ran her hands through her hair, trying to get rid of the smell of perfume and cologne and sweat and dirt, as she walked towards the loft. All she needed and wanted right now was a nice long bubble bath with scented soaps and her favorite rubber duck – that would cheer her up. And if it didn't, she could always fall back on standing on the rooftop of the loft and singing her lungs out. Though that might disturb Nick and his game. Which might make him come up to the rooftop and..

_Stop it. _

She was so caught up thinking about Nick and rooftops and what might happen that she didn't notice the man in front of her until she just about bowled him over. The huge cardboard box he was carrying fell to the floor, the photo frames and trinkets inside spilling out all over the sidewalk.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Jess said immediately, frantically picking up photo frames,– and was that a toy dog? – from the floor and piling them into her arms. She stood up, flustered and apologetic. "I was just busy thinking about rooftops and I completely didn't even see you walking in front of me – completely my fault, really, absolutely, I am so sorry. I hope I didn't break any of your trinkets or photo frames or, um, toys?"

She looked up and found herself melting in a puddle of gorgeous green eyes, floppy dark hair and the most charming smile she had ever seen.

"Hey, don't worry about it," the man said, smiling good-naturedly. "I was pretending to act out a movie-like scene and walking really slowly anyway, so it's equally my fault, no need to feel guilty.

"And," he continued, still smiling, plucking the toy dog from her fingers, "I believe everything, including the toys, is fine."

Jess couldn't do anything but do a dorky half-smile and stare. After a few awkward moments, he chuckled and held out his hand. "I'm Eli."

"Jess," Jess finally managed to choke out, recovering quickly. "Well, technically, Jessica Day but everyone calls me Jess. So, um, you were acting out a movie scene?"

"Yeah," Eli replied, "I'm just moving into this building, and I was doing like a whole flashbacks-of-my-life-so-far, walking purposefully towards the building kind of thing." He shrugged and paused. "Okay, yeah it sounds kind've stupid doesn't it."

Jess couldn't help but giggle. "It does sound pretty stupid, but it also sounds like something I'd probably do. Did you say this building?"

He pointed at the loft building. "Yeah, this one. Do you live here?"

Jess almost sang from excitement. This incredibly sexy and apparently nerdy cute guy was her new neighbor! "Yes of course! I mean, yes I do. As in, I live here, in this building, in a loft. With three guys." She cringed. "That came out wrong. Um, do you need help moving up your stuff?"

Eli's eyes widened slightly. "Wow, three guys? Are they your brothers? And no worries, I've got it." He shoved the last of the trinkets into the box and hoisted it under one arm. "Ladies first," he said as he held open the door to the building with her.

Jess smiled. She had a feeling she was going to get along very well with this new neighbor.

* * *

Nick had finally pushed all thoughts of Jess out of his mind – well, at least for the past fifteen minutes – and was really getting into the game when the door burst open and an excited, flustered Jessica Day waltzed in. He sighed; he was officially a gone case.

The door slid shut as she dropped her keys on the kitchen counter and turned around, her eyes wide and bright, to face him. "Nick!" she trilled excitedly, "You would not believe who I just met!"

_Her eyes are gorgeous_, Nick thought to himself. He registered that she was saying something but had no idea what and couldn't care less. _Like beautiful twin pools of endless, endless blue.. I could swim in eyes like those. _

Jess took in his silence and slowly registered his position, with a widening of her eyes. _He's doing his Sunday evening thing! I'm interrupting! But wow his hair looks adorable today.. He probably didn't brush it. _

They were both silent, staring at each other for a few heated moments before Jess recovered her senses.

"Oh right, I'm so sorry Nick, I forgot! I'll just be in my room now, prancing and dancing around – wow that rhymed – and I'll um tell you my great news later!" With an awkward hand gesture, she spun around and skittered off towards her room.

_Stop thinking about him._

Nick heard the door slam faintly and slapped himself on the forehead. He probably looked like a lovesick fool just staring at her and drooling. Which he wasn't. Because he was absolutely not in love with Jessica Day. Not one bit.

_Stop thinking about her. _

**A/N: Review please? **


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